AKVIS (http://www.akvis.com) has released Noise Buster 8.0 for Mac OS X and Windows with new tools and features, such as support for GPU acceleration, batch processing, support for RAW files, and more.

Whether your digital images are from a digital camera or a scanner, you may often notice the so-called "noise." Noise can appear in photos taken in low light or when the camera is set to a high ISO. It can be seen as grains that compromise the smoothness of a photo or random red and blue pixels that spoil the color accuracy of a snapshot. The reduced detail and clarity of such images can be improved with noise removal software.

AKVIS Noise Buster reduces both luminance and color noise in digital images without blurring the edges of objects. The new GPU option in the program's Preferences is only active if a computer has an appropriate video card. The image processing speed depends directly on a video card.

The new Edge Intensity parameter makes edges and borders more visible without revealing noise. Ready to use presets have been added in version 8.0.

Noise Buster now supports batch processing. This was formally only available under the plug-in, as a Photoshop action. Support has been added for RAW files.

AKVIS Noise Buster is available as a stand-alone application and as a plug-in. The Noise Buster plug-in is compatible with Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Corel Photo-Paint, Painter and Paint Shop Pro Photo, PhotoImpact, etc. The program runs on Mac OS X and higher and Windows 7/Vista/XP -- both 32-bit and 64-bit.

Registered users can upgrade the software for free. For new users Noise Buster 8.0 costs US$49 for a home license for either the plug-in or stand-alone version.